2026年8月7日 美国东部时间下午2:31 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
作者：莱利·卡兰南
内华达州最大的能源供应商NV能源公司正在起诉数据中心开发商Tract资本管理公司，指控该公司试图将成本转嫁给消费者。
争议的核心是，当数据中心的用电量堪比中等城市时，应由谁出资扩建能源基础设施。
Tract计划在里诺附近建设的两座数据中心园区总用电量将超过2吉瓦，接近NV能源公司总发电能力的三分之一。为该州90%地区供电的NV能源警告称，如果Tract不承担更多基础设施成本，该公司可能不得不提高电价。
这起案件是大型公用事业公司首次起诉数据中心开发商，可能会影响为AI热潮供电所需的基础设施建设成本由谁承担的问题。
“带来新基础设施或能源成本的项目必须自行承担这些成本，不能将其转嫁给内华达州的家庭、小企业或现有客户，”NV能源公司发言人凯蒂·乔·科利尔告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻。“无论现在还是未来，住宅和小型企业客户都不应为这些投资买单。”
这场纠纷可以追溯到NV能源公司与Tract的当地承包实体里诺电力公司签署的协议，该协议规定了向数据中心供电的条款。根据Tract的一份声明，NV能源公司拒绝提供其曾承诺供应的电力，却仍要求这家总部位于丹佛的数据中心开发商出资10亿美元进行电网升级。
今年6月，Tract要求通过私人仲裁解决此事。几周后，NV能源公司提起诉讼以阻止仲裁。
在诉讼中，NV能源公司辩称，Tract要求私人仲裁是为了规避公众监督。该公司声称，这不再是一起合同纠纷，而是围绕Tract能够取用多少电力以及谁将为输送电力所需的大规模基础设施投资买单的争议。
NV能源公司认为，这些问题只能由州监管机构内华达州公共事业委员会依法裁决，因为其结果将影响该州所有纳税人，而非仅仅涉及涉案的两家公司。
内华达州的规定要求大型电力用户必须经过该委员会审批，该委员会会根据大客户应自行承担扩建成本而非将负担转嫁给电网中已有普通用户的原则，确定他们的能源和基础设施需求。将此类问题提交公开论坛也能让消费者权益倡导者、社区成员和其他利益相关方参与进来。
NV能源公司表示，它别无选择，只能提起诉讼以阻止仲裁。根据法律规定，公用事业公司必须为其服务区域内任何提出用电申请的用户供电。NV能源公司无法拒绝Tract的用电请求，并表示如果不升级基础设施以满足新增用电需求，该公司将不得不提高电价。
Tract则表示，NV能源公司正在发起一场“抹黑数据中心的公关攻势”。该公司指出，它已经在内华达州的基础设施项目中投入了超过1.27亿美元，并承诺投入近10亿美元用于网络基础设施升级，称这些举措将惠及NV能源公司的所有客户。Tract告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，真正的问题在于NV能源公司未能为其承诺供应的电力做好充分规划，如今却以“委员会的管辖权为挡箭牌”。
迄今为止，AI热潮让数据中心和渴望从其巨大能源需求中获利的能源公司成为了快速盟友。尤其是内华达州，一直以其相对加州邻国更低的电价为卖点吸引数据中心：该州目前拥有22座运营中的数据中心，另有20座正在建设中。
但这起案件标志着这一联盟出现了早期裂痕，表明公用事业公司担心因电价上涨受到指责，在这起案件中，它们正向数据中心及其背后的科技公司施压，要求它们出资补贴电网所承受的压力。
Nevada energy company sues data center in first-of-its-kind fight over who should pay for AI buildout
August 7, 2026 2:31 PM EDT / CBS News
By Riley Callanan
The largest energy provider in Nevada, NV Energy, is suing data center developer Tract Capital Management, accusing the company of trying to pass costs onto consumers.
At issue is who pays to expand energy infrastructure when a data center needs as much electricity as a midsize city.
Tract’s two planned campuses near Reno would together draw more than 2 gigawatts of power, nearly a third of NV Energy’s generating capacity. NV Energy, which powers 90% of the state, warns it may have to raise rates if Tract does not shoulder more of the infrastructure costs.
The case marks the first time that a major utility company has sued a data center developer, and could influence who is responsible for the costs of building infrastructure needed to power the AI boom.
“Projects that create new infrastructure or energy costs must pay those costs and cannot shift them onto Nevada families, small businesses, or existing customers,” NV Energy spokesperson Katie Jo Collier told CBS News. “Residential and small business customers cannot be left on the hook for these investments now or in the future.”
The dispute traces back to agreements signed by NV Energy and Tract’s local contracting entity, Reno Power, which established terms for delivering electricity to data centers. According to a statement from Tract, NV Energy is refusing to deliver power it had promised to provide, while still demanding that the Denver-based data center developer begin $1 billion in grid upgrades.
In June, Tract called for private arbitration to settle the matter. Weeks later, NV Energy sued to stop it.
In its lawsuit, NV Energy argues that Tract is calling for private arbitration to circumvent public scrutiny. It alleges that this is no longer a contract dispute, but one over how much power Tract will be able to draw and who will pay for the massive infrastructure investments needed to deliver it.
These questions, NV Energy argues, can only be legally decided by the state regulator, the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, because the answers will affect every ratepayer in the state, not just the two companies at the table.
Nevada’s rules require large power users to go through the commission, which determines their energy and infrastructure needs on the principle that big customers will fund their own expansion rather than shifting the burden onto average ratepayers already on the grid. Opening it up to a public forum would also allow consumer advocates, community members and other stakeholders to participate.
NV Energy says it had no choice but to sue to stop the arbitration. Utility companies are legally obligated to provide power to anyone in their territory that requests it. NV Energy cannot turn Tract away, and says it would have to raise rates if the infrastructure isn’t increased to meet the added demand.
Tract says that NV Energy is launching a “public relations blitz stoking anti-data center sentiment.” It points out that it has already invested more than $127 million in infrastructure projects in Nevada and committed to nearly $1 billion in network infrastructure upgrades that it says will benefit all of NV Energy’s customers. The real problem, Tract told CBS News, is that NV Energy failed to adequately plan for the power it promised to provide, and is now invoking “the commission’s jurisdiction as a shield.”
Until now, the AI boom has made fast friends of data centers and energy companies eager to reap the profits of their vast energy demands. Nevada, in particular, has touted its relatively low energy rates, which are cheap compared to neighboring California, to court data centers: the state has 22 operating data centers and 20 more in the works.
But this case is an early fissure in that alliance, a sign that utility companies fear being blamed for rising rates and in this case are pressuring data centers, and the tech companies behind them, to shell out to subsidize their strain on the grid.
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